“font-size: 11pt”>He is not alone. Even as millions have endured increased sanctions, some see external pressure as the only way to break the hold of the powerful ayatollahs….
Ashrafi — whose name has been changed to protect his identity — lives in Shiraz, the ancient southwestern city known as the resting place of the 14th-century poet Hafez, and the repository of some of the finest Persian art. As he watches the election news in America, he has been considering his country’s history and the current regime’s tenuous place in it.
“The Trump administration was the only US administration to distinguish between Iran in terms of its people, history and geography, and the Islamic Republic as its governing body,” he said. “From this viewpoint, the Islamic Republic is no longer an unalterable fact, and it could change.”
Ashrafi compares Trump to Ronald Reagan, who chose to escalate the Cold War arms race and denounce the former Soviet Union as an “evil empire”. He was accused of being a warmonger, but was vindicated when it collapsed. In the same way, Ashrafi argues, Trump’s harsh policies might have helped bring down the Iranian regime in another four years.
Paradoxically, some Iranians feel comfortable with Trump’s belligerence and mendacity, which mirrors the pugnacious rhetoric and dishonesty of the Islamic Republic’s leaders. “Trump is kind of attractive for people like the Iranian middle class because he bullies anyone — and in Iran, the one who bullies, he or she has power,” said Anahita, a journalist in her twenties living in Tehran.
Anahita — whose name has been changed — said that when she recently wrote an online piece about the US elections, she was surprised to see pro-Trump comments pouring in from people across Iran.
That's quite an endorsement, given that Trump's policies against Iran have caused considerable hardship inside the country. It shows how desperate so many Iranians are to see the back of the mullahs.
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